1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communication system and method for connecting a wireless-communication host device to a wireless-communication slave device after authenticating the slave device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices supporting the IEEE 802.11 wireless network or Bluetooth as a short range wireless system have been introduced to the market and used in homes and offices thanks to usability, mobility, and flexibility.
In addition, as a wireless networks, there are ad hoc wireless networks and infrastructure wireless networks. In the ad hoc wireless network, peer wireless devices, such as a wireless PC, a tablet, a wireless printer, or a personal digital assistant (PDA), communicate directly with each other without going through a wireless access point (AP). On the other hand, in an infrastructure wireless network, plural wireless terminals on the wireless network can communicate with each other through a wireless access point.
Further, in the ad hoc wireless network and the infrastructure wireless network, a technique of encrypting wireless communication data such as Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) authentication key has been adopted.
In communications between personal computers (PC), a method of transferring setting parameters of a local area network between PCs using a removable storage medium, such as a floppy disk, has been known.
In recent years, a USB flash memory in which a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector is attached to a storage as a flash memory, has been used as an alternative to the floppy disk. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-248534 discusses a device capable of indicating a communication state with light emitted by a light emitting diode (LED) added to a USB flash memory.
The wireless network should secure an encrypted wireless communication path between wireless devices communicating with each other. Therefore, it is necessary to set a network name that specifies a wireless network, or identification information (so-called Extended Service Set Identifier SSID)) and set a WEP key as an encryption key at each wireless terminal. In some wireless networks, an encryption scheme should be set as well. Such a setup is not easy for a general user, which may hinder safe, widespread use of the wireless network.